Tag Archive: Passenger Encounters

I’m coming down a hill in a C-class tram in a 60kph zone. It has just started drizzling, which makes the tram more prone to slipping and dramatically increases the distance needed to stop, so I’ve reduced my speed to 45kph. An expensive black sedan pulls an illegal U-turn with no warning and then stops across the tracks because there isn’t room to complete it without reversing. I slam on the emergency brakes, go into a skid because of the weather conditions, and end up a couple metres behind him before he actually reverses out of my path. I come to a rough stop beside the car. Because the gong is automatically activated during the braking, the driver of the car assumes that I’m after his attention and tries to communicate with me through two layers of glass. Since I’ve already stopped, I figure I may as well entertain this.

Car driver: “What’s the issue?”

Me: “I’m in a 28-ton vehicle coming down a hill, and you have performed an illegal turn in front of me and then stopped.”

I’ve pulled into the Victoria Harbour terminus and set down all of my passengers. Another tram is at the end of the line, waiting until their time to enter the stop. I’m sitting alone in the passenger saloon on my phone ordering a pizza so that it’s ready for my dinner break. A woman comes up to my window.

Passenger: “Is there something wrong with the air conditioning on this tram? It’s something like five degrees warmer in here than it is outside.”

I get out and gauge the temperature in the passenger area.

Me: “Yikes, you’re right. I’ll ‘reboot’ the tram in a couple stops when we’re out of the way of other traffic. If that doesn’t fix it, I’ll have to try for a replacement tram at the depot. Thank you for letting me know about this.”

Passenger gives me a look of total confusion/disgust/oppression and walks off shaking his head. I try to work out how I could possibly have offended him with that response.